The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, when it docked in Hobart on the 21st February.
The ship was met by a party of AFP officers who boarded the ship with a search warrant. Steve Irwin Captain Paul Watson said that among the material seized was hundreds of hours of video for the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, which he said captured some of the most dramatic whale-killing scenes ever seen.
The AFP warrant authorized the seizing of all edited and raw video footage, all edited and raw audio recordings, all still photographs, producer’s notes, interview transcripts, production meeting minutes, post production meeting minutes as well as the ship’s log books, global positioning system records, automatic radar plotting aid, purchase records, receipts, financial transaction records, voyage information and navigational plotted charts.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the Australian Federal Police received a referral from the Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry on February 17. Japanese authorities complained to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo as well as through the Japanese Embassy in Canberra. The official complaint stemmed from the director-general of the Japanese fishing agency. He declined to show the AFP search warrant on grounds that the investigation was continuing, but he confirmed allegations were made by the Japanese that the Steve Irwin crew may have endangered safe navigation of theNisshin Maru No 3 by deploying a propeller entanglement system between February 2 and 5. Mr Watson allegedly endangered safe navigation of the same Japanese vessel by forcing a deliberate collision.
Police confiscated the ship’s logbook and video footage The crew had cooperated fully and the material taken from the vessel was now being reviewed, Mr Keelty said.
The Captain of the Steve Irwin, Paul Watson stated “Japan does not wish to see the airing of the second season of Whale Wars and is putting as much diplomatic pressure on Australia as they possibly can to prevent further exposure of their illegal whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.”
“I wish that the Australian government would apply the same “diplomatic” pressure on Japan to end their illegal whaling operations. “The Rudd government was elected on a promise to take the Japanese whaling industry to court for their illegal whaling activities. Now they seem to be more interested in taking Sea Shepherd to court for our efforts to intervene against illegal whaling operations.”
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has demanded the federal government explain why the AFP undertook the raid. “On the face of it, this is outrageous behaviour by the Australian government to secure favour from the Japanese authorities,” Senator Brown said. “And if it wasn’t, what on earth is the Australian Federal Police up to?. It is an extraordinary raid that defies the imagination.” Senator Brown said he could think of no other explanation for why the ship was raided other than to take footage from the Animal Planet team who were on the boat.
“If this action was taken at the behest of the Japanese authorities it will outrage many Australians. The Australian Federal Police can expect detailed questioning from the Greens at Senate Estimates this coming week.”
The federal attorney-general would need to approve any prosecution arising from a raid on the Steve Irwin in Hobart, a Senate committee has been told. “We haven’t reached the stage of seeking … consent,” Bill Campbell, a senior departmental official told a Senate committee hearing on Monday.
The incident followed violent clashes between the Steve Irwin and Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean since November. Any prosecution would open an international can of worms, the hearing was told. The whaling vessels were Japanese-flagged while the Steve Irwin was flagged in the Netherlands with an international crew. Mr Watson was a Canadian and the alleged offences occurred in international waters. Australia is a signatory to the international convention on safe navigation at sea. “Each state party to the convention is obliged to take jurisdiction over offences where a possible offender is present in its territory,” according to an Australian Government official.
Watson called off his pursuit of the whalers earlier this month, saying the escalating conflict was becoming too dangerous and could result in death. Japan kills whales using a loophole in a 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling that allows “lethal research” on the mammals, and makes no secret of the fact that the animals’ meat is then served as food.
“I wish that the Australian government would apply the same “diplomatic” pressure on Japan to end their illegal whaling operations,” he said “The Rudd government was elected on a promise to take the Japanese whaling industry to court for their illegal whaling activities. Now they seem to be more interested in taking Sea Shepherd to court for our efforts to intervene against illegal whaling operations.”
He said the recent Animal Planet series Whale Wars was very embarrassing to the Japanese government and the Japanese whaling industry in 2008. Japan does not wish to see the airing of the second season of Whale Wars and is putting as much diplomatic pressure on Australia as they possibly can to prevent further exposure of their illegal whaling operations in the Southern Ocean. “It does indeed look like the Australia Government has given in to pressure from Japan with regards the embarrassment that the first series of Whale Wars caused.”
Captain Paul Watson said he would welcome a trial if it came to that. “We have to start somewhere so it may as well be by taking me to court. Let us get the evidence on the table and although a trial against Sea Shepherd and myself may not allow the introduction of evidence about Japan’s illegal whaling operations, it at least will give us the forum to present our evidence. Let’s see the Australian government bring the Japanese whale killers to Australia to bear witness against Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet and let’s see them appear as witnesses for the government of Australia that professes to be against whaling.”
“It’s a very one-sided affair,” continued Captain Watson. “The Japanese ships have not been boarded by the Australian Federal Police; they have not had their video and navigational data confiscated. They have not been questioned nor will they be, yet they violently attacked my ship and crew in the Southern Ocean. Does the law only go to bat for those who destroy nature’s creation? Are we about to see the ultimate kangaroo court where Sea Shepherd will be legally crucified because the Australian government has not lived up to their promise of taking the whale killers to court? The truth is that we would not have to be in the Southern Ocean defending the whales if the governments of the world would simply enforce the international conservation treaties they once so proudly signed into law. Without enforcement there is no law – just ecological anarchy.”
Captain Watson said he had no complaints about the Australian Federal Police – “They were very professional and polite and they were doing their job in carrying out the orders of the government.”
At least the people of Tasmania are behind Sea Shepherd even if the Australian Government are toeing the Japanese line. If it’s a choice between the support of the government and the support of the people, Watson is happy that Sea Shepherd is enjoying the support of the people.
“From the Australian government we are getting criticism and police raids,” said Captain Watson. “But from the Australian people we are getting a wonderful welcome.”
Some 2,000 people visited and toured the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin on Saturday, February 21st at MacQuarie Dock in Hobart. “It’s good to be home and it’s gratifying to see and hear what people are saying to us and how they appreciate what we are doing,” said crew member Andrew Perry of Hobart.
Andrew was married by Captain Watson to Molly Kendall of Adelaide, South Australia during the Antarctic campaign. The Green Party of Australia sent a gift basket to the happy couple. Hobart bars were offering free drinks to Sea Shepherd crew and members of the public have delivered contributions of supplies and money to the Steve Irwin.
“There is no doubt that Australia is the greatest whale loving nation on Earth,” said Swedish 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt. “This country rocks.”
The Steve Irwin will remain in Hobart for a month before moving to Melbourne. This week Captain Paul Watson will be speaking at the University of Tasmania, attending a photo exhibit about Tasmanian forests by Green Party leader Senator Bob Brown and will speak to forest activists on the front lines of the battle to save Tasmania’s old growth trees.
“These two issues, whales and trees are closely related more than people know,” said Captain Watson. “Twenty percent of Japan’s paper supply originates in Tasmania. It’s a trade-off. Australia wants to continue destroying old growth forests in Tasmania to sell to the Japanese therefore the government is willing to do the bidding of the Australian whaling industry. In return the Japanese want to kill endangered whales and are threatening trade retaliation against Australia. It seems to me that Japan needs Australia more than Australia needs Japan, but politicians tend to be afraid of anything that upsets the economic apple cart so the whales are being sacrificed so that the destruction of the forests can continue.”
When the Japanese see Australia’s Environment Minister Peter Garrett supporting the destruction of the forests, endorsing uranium mines, dredging Port Phillips bay and killing dolphins, slaughtering kangaroos and allowing shark finning, they can smile and say, ‘he’s one of us’.
“If Peter Garrett is willing to crucify me to appease the Japanese whaling industry then so be it,” said Captain Watson. “I’d rather be tossed into a cell for life than to betray my love for the diversity of life on this wonderful planet.”
Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson stated in November 2008 in reply to Garrett’s allegations of extremism:
“There is nothing more insincere than a politician just before an election. They will fire promises from the hip with a veneer of passion and resolve that is peeled quickly away after the votes are counted. Australian Environmental Minister Peter Garrett is a case in point. When Mr. Garrett was an activist musician with Midnight Oil he was a man to be proud of, a person to be deeply admired for his dedication to the cause of conservation. I once stood with him on the logging roads of the Clayquot Valley on Canada’s Vancouver Island to oppose clear-cutting. Midnight Oil performed a concert in 1993 in the middle of a logging road. Damn but we loved them and we loved Peter Garrett. He was the man!
In November 2007, I advised all of my Australian supporters and friends to vote for Labor because according to Mr. Garrett, a Rudd government would actually do something to protect whales from illegal Japanese whaling activities in the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary. Now so many them feel betrayed by Mr. Garrett after a year of anti-environmental stands ranging from being pro-dredging of Port Phillip Bay, to supporting logging and new pulp mills in Tasmania, to condemning kangaroos, to appeasing the Japanese whalers. How was I to know in November 2007 that Peter Garrett had been turned to the service of the darkside? He seemed like the knight-errant of modern Australian politics, a man of integrity and courage ready to fight for justice and the planet.
What we have now is the same old, same old. Just another reined in, subservient pawn in a political machine, who does what he is told and seeks to flatter and favour his political handlers instead of the people who elected him.”
The following statement was issued by Peter Garrett when he was Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage on September 18 2007:
The Australian Government must stand up and stop Japanese whaling
A Rudd Labor Government would not stand in the way of Humane Society International’s (HSI) legal challenge in the Federal Court to request an injunction to stop the Japanese from killing whales within the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Labor has a clear policy position that we will enforce Australian law banning the slaughter of whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary. Therefore, Labor would enforce any injunction the courts decides to grant against Japanese whalers. I wish to send a powerful and clear message to the Australian public that Labor believes in enforcing Australian law. This is the right and obvious thing to do. The Howard Government has made a mockery of our laws by refusing to enforce the Whale Sanctuary protections, and it’s just not good enough, frankly. There is an ocean of clear water between the Howard Government and Labor on the issue of whaling. Labor has the guts to stand up to the Japanese whalers – the Howard Government will do no such thing. Mr Turnbull is all talk and no action. All pretty pictures of whales in his election material and no results. We expect the Government will not show support for this hearing. You wouldn’t see such timidity from a Labor Government.
If elected, Rudd Labor will not stand in the way of enforcing Australian law banning the slaughter of whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Captain Watson noted: “It’s now hard to believe that this man Peter Garrett made this statement. When Senator Ian Campbell was Environment Minister he did much more than Mr. Garrett and he actually gave assistance to us in our efforts to protect the whales. All that has changed as the Rudd government and Peter Garrett use passive-aggressive tactics to hurt the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society financially and to force us to not utilise Australia as a base. This week Australia and Japan announced that they would be seeking a “diplomatic solution.” Translated this means more talk and little or no action.
It is very interesting to hear that Australia is referring to Sea Shepherd actions as illegal when there is no specification as to just what illegal action Sea Shepherd is allegedly doing. The situation is clear. Japanese whalers are targeting endangered whales in an established whale sanctuary in violation of a global commercial whaling moratorium and in contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling prohibiting Japanese whaling in the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion zone. The Rudd Garrett government not only has failed to stand up for the whales, they have now decided to weaken and harass the only group in the world that is actually saving the lives of whales in the Southern Ocean.
A Japanese foreign ministry official confirmed that both countries were employing diplomacy in the row. He also affirmed that Foreign Minister Smith had sought to distance the Australian government from militant environmentalists who have vowed to stop the Japanese hunt by force. Smith “stressed that the Australian government is making a clear distinction from the illegal action taken by anti-whaling groups,” the official said.
Captain Watson continued “Recently a spokesman for Mr. Garrett told the media that Sea Shepherd was a group of extremists. But the question must be asked. What is extreme about upholding international conservation law against illegal whaling activities? What is extreme about doing so without causing physical injuries to the whalers? What is extreme about doing the job that the government of Australia should be doing but clearly does not wish to do? It is frustrating beyond measure to struggle to raise the funds to voyage to the Southern Ocean while Greenpeace collects tens of millions of dollars to supposedly do the same thing and then announces two weeks before the Japanese fleet is scheduled to depart that they will not be doing what they were collecting the money to do. It is frustrating to have supported a politician based on promises he has refused to deliver and to suffer the insult upon injury of having this same politician repay our support of him with hostility and harassment. At least Mr Garrett has had a lesson in real politic this last year. He has discovered that talk really is cheap and that his real masters are in Tokyo. He has discovered that the midnight oil he is now burning is whale oil and the lives of the whales are secondary to the business of business.
